The M1 is a metropolitan route in the

eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality created in 2000, that includes the city of Durban, South Africa and surrounding towns. eThekwini is one of the 11 districts of KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The majo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, linking

Pinetown Pinetown is a large area that is part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, inland from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Pinetown is situated 16 km west of Durban at an elevation of 1,000 to 1,300 feet (305 to 395 m). History Pin ...

Mobeni Mobeni is a suburb of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and forms part of the heavily industrialised South Durban Basin, a sub-region south of Durban. Subdivisions Mobeni is a collective of three suburbs that lie between Chatsworth and th ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

via Chatsworth.

Route

The M1 officially starts at the M13 interchange (Exit 19) with the M31 Josiah Gumede Road, west of the Pinetown

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

(CBD) as Henry Pennington Road (previously Richmond Road). It proceeds southwards past the suburbs of Ashley, Surprise Farm, Alexander Park and Westmead before meeting the N3 highway (to

and

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

) at the Exit 23 interchange. The M1 proceeds to turn in a southwesterly direction traversing through the suburbs of Mariannhill Park,

Mariannhill Mariannhill is a cluster of suburbs and townships in eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. In 1882, Trappist missionary Father Franz Pfanner established Mariannhill Monastery 16 km west of Durban. He promoted local developm ...

, Mariannheights and Mariannridge before meeting the Old Richmond Road (to Eston and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

). It then proceeds to traverse the suburbs of Nsiswakazi (where it bends eastwards), St Wendolins Ridge, Phumphele, Savannah Park and Mawelewele (where it bends southwards) before leaving Pinetown and entering Chatsworth. The M1 enters Chatsworth as a single-carriageway freeway named Higginson Highway, passing over the Moorcross Drive/Moorton Drive interchange and thereafter heading in an east-south-east direction. Shortly after, it splits into a

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

, passing over the Moorcross Drive/Arena Park Drive interchange, the Shallcross Road interchange, north of Chatsworth's CBD, the Astral Drive/Florence Nightingale Drive interchange and the 42nd Avenue/Lenny Naidu Drive interchange. After 42nd Avenue, the M1 ends a freeway and intersects with Havenside Drive before leaving Chatsworth to enter Durban in the suburb of Mobeni Heights. In Mobeni Heights, it intersects Mobeni Heights Drive before intersecting the

N2 highway The N2 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town through George, Gqeberha, East London, Mthatha and Durban to Ermelo. It is the main highway along the Indian Ocean coast of the country. Its current length of makes it ...

(to

KwaDukuza KwaDukuza is a municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In 2006, the municipal name was changed to KwaDukuza (which incorporates small towns such as Stanger, Balito, Shaka's Kraal, but the Zulu people in the area called it "Dukuza" well befor ...

and

Port Shepstone Port Shepstone is a large town situated on the mouth of the Mzimkhulu River, the largest river on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast of South Africa. It is located halfway between Hibberdene and Margate and is positioned 120 km south of Durban. ...

) at the Exit 154 interchange. After the N2, it proceeds into the industrial suburb of

West, ending at the intersection with the

R102 The R.102 (originally referred to as Project H) was a British airship planned in 1930 but never built. The development of R.102 resulted from the Imperial Airship Scheme, when it became apparent that the R100 and R101 airships then being buil ...

South Coast Road.

History

The Higginson Highway was named for a leader of the Durban City Co-Operation Housing Committee that encouraged the relocation of

Indian people Indians or Indian people are the Indian nationality law, citizens and nationals of India. In 2022, the population of India stood at over 1.4 billion people, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most p ...

from white-only areas of Durban to Chatsworth, along the highway's corridor. There is a community-led effort to rename the highway to instead honour

Amichand Rajbansi Amichand Rajbansi (14 January 1942 – 29 December 2011) was a South African politician. He was a former Chairman of the Ministers' Council of the House of Delegates Tricameral parliamentary chamber for Indian people, and leader of the Minority ...

, an Indian leader in the community. The Higginson Highway is known for the numerous fatal accidents that happen on the road on a reoccurring basis. Some local residents attribute this to a ghost named "Sheila", thought to be a woman that hitchhikes on the road that may have died in one of the accidents, or may have committed suicide by running into traffic. A 2014 movie '' The Curse of Highway Sheila'' addressed this legend.

References

External links

eThekwini Online - Roads Home Page
Highways in South Africa Metropolitan Routes in Durban Reportedly haunted locations in South Africa

Route

History

References

Further reading

External links